2021 JCR Education Program Virtual Conference

Dr. Laurel McCourt is currently an honorary member of the Medina General Hospital Medical Staff in Medina, Ohio following her tenure as an active staff member from 1991-2010. During the time Dr. McCourt served as physician quality liaison at Medina General Hospital, she was instrumental in the development of the OPPE process. This process was implemented and was also submitted and accepted for the Joint Commission’s Leading Practice Library.

Her initial career in medicine began in a staff model HMO where she held the position of staff physician until 1991 with active staff privileges at Fairview General Hospital in Fairview, Ohio and Lakewood Hospital in Lakewood, Ohio. From 1991-2008, she served as the Medical Director of Brunswick Medical Care Center, a satellite facility of Medina General Hospital. From 2008-2009, she held the position of Physician Quality Liaison at Medina General Hospital.

In 2004, Dr. McCourt began her career with The Joint Commission as a hospital surveyor. For the first five years, she continued to practice medicine as well. Since that time, she was further trained in the Comprehensive Manual for Office Based Surgery and in the Primary Medical Home Accreditation Process. In addition, Dr. McCourt has served in the Special Survey Unit to investigate complaints for The Joint Commission. She has served as a team leader for both deemed and non-deemed hospital systems and has surveyed, and now consulted, at a broad range of organizations from rural community hospitals to large academic medical centers.

In her career at The Joint Commission, Dr. McCourt has been active in the speaker’s bureau. She has given numerous presentations to a variety of audiences including several national meetings. Her presentations include the hospital and ambulatory accreditation standards and the survey process.

In September of 2014, Dr. McCourt transitioned to Joint Commission Resources to begin a career as a consultant and ceased being a surveyor. In her new role, she continues to educate healthcare organizations on the Joint Commission standards implementation and compliance.

Background

• Over 35 years of progressive leadership experience as a Board-Certified Family Physician (1984-2019)

• Former Joint Commission Surveyor

Professional Experience

• Physician Quality Liaison, Medina General Hospital, Cleveland, OH, USA

• Medical Director, Brunswick Medical Care Center, Brunswick, OH, USA

Professional Affiliations or Certifications

• Certified Joint Commission Professional (CJCP®)

• RPI® Certified Yellow Belt, The Joint Commission

Ms. Lisa Hardesty is an experienced health care consultant with numerous years of experience in environment of care and life safety. Ms. Hardesty worked as the Environment of Care and Sustainability Manager at a Malcolm Baldrige National Quality Award winning hospital. During her tenure as safety officer, she was responsible for conducting performance improvement initiatives related to the physical environment. Ms. Hardesty was responsible for significant improvements including: Upgrading HVAC systems to better support air quality in the surgery department; renovating the pharmacy compounding area to meet USP 797 compliance; restructuring the medical equipment management plan to adopt an alternate equipment management (AEM) program.

Prior to her role at the hospital, Ms. Hardesty provided service-based consulting focused on environmental safety and compliance issues. She consulted for a national Fortune 100 company to build a health care compliance division. Ms. Hardesty also worked with numerous health systems to improve compliance by developing a standardized approach for conducting surveys, writing action plans, and establishing metrics for monitoring sustainability.

Background

• Experienced health care compliance consultant with over 20 years of experience in environment of care, life safety, and emergency management

• Recognized leader in facilitating risk assessments, gap analysis, failure mode and effect analysis and managing action plans for improvement

• Extensive training in emergency management through the United States Department of Homeland Security Center for Domestic Preparedness

Professional Experience

• Environment of Care and Sustainability Manager

• Safety Officer

• Incident Commander

• President and CEO

Professional Affiliations or Certifications

• Certified Fire Inspector (CFI)

• Certified Healthcare Safety Professional (CHSP)

• Healthcare Environmental Manager (HEM)

• Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design, Green Associate

• RPI® Certified Yellow Belt, The Joint Commission

Ms. Mary Cole’s experience acquired from numerous clinical settings provides the framework for her approach to utilizing standardization and evidenced based practices in the health care environment.

Ms. Cole has worked in infection prevention and control for greater than 15 years, most recently as the Director of Infection Prevention and Control at a large academic trauma center in Atlanta, Georgia. During this time, Mary was instrumental in developing a Tier 1 Ebola Care Unit at Grady Health System. She has actively participated in numerous successful Joint Commission surveys.

Ms. Cole has experience in leadership, education, and performance improvement, which has led to significant decreases in infections. She has produced multiple publications and received awards related to infection prevention and control. Additionally, she is a Certified Yellow Belt. With this designation, she supports The Joint Commission’s activities associated with establishing and sustaining a Robust Process Improvement® (RPI®) culture. As a Certified Yellow Belt, Ms. Cole is trained in the foundational concepts and tools of problem solving and makes improvements to better meet customer expectations and organization objectives.

Ms. Cole has conducted hospital assessments and developed educational programs responsive to the needs of the community, geographic region and country.

Background

• Registered nurse for over 32 years

• Leadership

• Professional nursing experience in orthopedics, emergency care, cardiac catheterization, and infection prevention and control

Professional Experience

• Director of Infection Prevention and Control

• TB Control Coordinator, Infectious Disease Program

Professional Affiliations or Certifications

• Certified Joint Commission Professional (CJCP®)

• Association of Professionals in Infection Control

• Certified in Infection Prevention and Control (CIC)

• Georgia Infection Prevention Network

• RPI® Yellow Belt Certified, The Joint Commission

• VHA GA Leadership Council, Chairperson (2012)